This invention relates to a tool for use in heating a pipe connector sleeve in order to melt, within the sleeve, the solder which serves to secure the sleeve to the pipe by solidification of the solder so as to insure a fluid tight joint. The solder in the solid state may pre-exist within cavities in the sleeve or may be applied at the points of pipe entry to the tube and flow therein by capillary action when melted.
It is the usual practice to heat these pipe connector sleeves when the pipes are in situ by means of a blow lamp, hot air gun or gas torch. However, application of the flame or hot air to the sleeve usually results in burning of the adjacent part of the building structure. Also the use of a blow lamp or torch in confined spaces is difficult and undesirable if the work has to be done in a combustible environment. The flame or hot air from a blow lamp or torch also tends indiscriminately to heat the other end of the sleeve so that heating a pipe connector sleeve having one end already secured to a pipe can cause the secured end to become unsecured or cause it to leak.
There is, thus, a need for a tool which overcomes the disadvantages of using a blow lamp or torch for heating a pipe connector sleeve.